FINRA Barred WFG Broker for Ponzi Scheme
From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law LLC:
FINRA has barred a former WFG Investment broker by the name of Stuart G. Dickinson for recommending his customers invest in a Ponzi scheme. FINRA has also ordered Mr. Dickinson to pay $924,000 in restitution to seven of his customers who were defrauded.
In 2008, Mr. Dickinson recommend that his clients invest in ATM Financial Services (ATMF) when he knew, according to FINRA, that ATMA did not use its own funds to purchase ATM machines, but in fact, used funds to pay fictitious returns to earlier investors. Mr. Dickinson’s investors lost approximately $1.02 million because he failed to recognize or ignored the fact that something was wrong when he was shown on many occasions incomplete and inconsistence performance histories of the ATMs.
Mr. Dickinson was involved with ATMA before 2008, and in 2007 he sold more than $1 million in limited partnership interests in ATM Alliance (ATMA).
According to his BrokerCheck file, Mr. Dickinson was at WFG Investments since 2005 until he was terminated in 2013. He is currently not associated with any other FINRA-regulated firm.
The attorneys of Eccleston Law LLC represent investors and advisers nationwide in securities and employment matters. The securities lawyers at Eccleston Law also practice a variety of other areas of securities for financial advisors including breakaway broker services, employment matters, strategic consulting and counseling, broker litigation and arbitration,whistleblower actions, and much more. Our attorneys draw on a combined experience of nearly 65 years in delivering the highest quality legal services. If you are in need of legal services, contact us to schedule a one-on-one consultation today.
Related Attorneys: James J. Eccleston
Tags: Eccleston, Eccleston Law, James Eccleston, Eccleston Law LLC, FINRA, WFG Investment, Stuart G. Dikinson, Ponzi scheme, ATM Financial Services, ATMF, ATMA, BrokerCheck,